20 
BULLETIN 762, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
consumed an average of but a little more than 1 pound per head 
daily. 
The steers of Lot 3, which were fed all the silage they would eat 
and had access to good oat straw, consumed 41 pounds of silage and 
1.7 pounds of oat straw per day during the second period and some- 
what less roughage during the subsequent periods, eating less than 
1 pound of oat straw per head daily during the last two periods. 
These rations indicate that while steers which are being fed silage 
will eat a little dry roughage if placed before them, the amount 
is small if the silage is palatable and the amount of roughage be- 
comes almost a negligible factor during the latter part of the feeding- 
period. The steers which ate some roughage did not eat so much 
silage. For the entire period of 127 days the steers of Lots 2 and 3 
ate exactly the same amount of silage, namely, 38.6 pounds per head 
per day, and in addition consumed 2.5 and 1.9 pounds of stover and 
oat straw, respectively, each day. The steers of Lot 1, which received 
silage alone, consumed on the average 3.8 pounds more silage per 
head per day than the steers of Lot 2, or, in other words, 2.5 pounds 
of corn stover or 1.9 pounds of oat straw replaced 3.8 pounds of 
sorghum silage in the ration. 
WEIGHTS AND GAINS. 
The following table shows the average initial and final weights 
per steer of each lot and the total and average daily gains per steer : 
Table 9. — Weights and gains (Nov. 26, 1915, to Apr. 1, 1916—127 days). 
Lot 
No. 
Ration. 
Average 
Average 
Average 
initial 
final 
total 
weight 
weight 
gain 
per steer. 
per steer. 
per steer. 
Pounds. 
Pounds. 
Pounds. 
787 
1,058 
272 
788 
1,036 
248 
790 
1,030 
240 
787 
989 
202 
Average 
dailv 
gain 
per steer. 
Cottonseed meal and sorghum silage 
Cottonseed meal, sorghum silage, and corn stover , 
Cottonseed meal, sorghum silage, and oat straw , 
Cottonseed cake, cowpeahay, oat straw, and corn stover, 
Pounds. 
2.14 
1.95 
1.89 
1.59 
The steers of all lots were nearly uniform in size at the beginning 
of the experiment, the greatest average variation in weight per steer 
of any lot being 3 pounds. The final average weight of the steers of 
Lot 1 was 1,058 pounds; Lot 2, 1,036 pounds; Lot 3, 1,030 pounds; 
and Lot 4, 989 pounds. 
The average gain in weight per steer for Lot 1 was 272 pounds for 
127 days, or an average daily gain of 2.14 pounds, which is exceed- 
ingly satisfactory. Each steer of Lot 2, which had a small amount 
of corn stover in addition to the sorghum silage, gained 1.95 pounds 
daily, while those of Lot 3, which had a supplemental ration of oat 
straw, gained but 1.89 pounds daily. The steers of Lot 4, which were 
